Under The Feet Of Jesus Character Analysis

The theory of Bildungsroman defines a genre that has been employed in several literature pieces albeit most novels have employed the framework partially. The Bildungsroman literary genre convention dwells on the growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood morally and psychologically. Works that have employed the literary genre can also be referred to as coming of age genres. The novel by Viramontes entitled Under the Feet of Jesus gives an account of the plight of a family that lives as migrants. It has aspects that indicate similarities with the theories of the Bildungsroman. The essay evaluates how and to what extent the events of the novel fit the genre conventions in the Bildungsroman. Furthermore, the essay will delve into the justification behind the choice to use or not to use the genre conventions to enhance the theme of struggle as Estrella and her family experience hardships, focusing on migration and adolescence which characterize the life of the protagonist, Estrella, and her family.

Jesus and the Disinherited begins the first chapter with the interpretation of Jesus. Dr. Thurman explained that Jesus was a poor Jew and was a minority in the midst of a dominate society. Dr. Thurman gives his analysis on the worldviews Jesus. People around the world have their own interpretation of Jesus; yet, people have an orthodox view of him being fully God and fully man. In chapter one, the author references the nonviolent resistance approach, which is a tactic Dr. Martin Luther King Jr used in the civil rights movements. He interprets Jesus as a black man who lived his life as an outsider in the world. Jesus was the disinherited and oppressed like African Americans.

Words are strong; they can build, tear down, or repair; they have a purpose, much like tools in a tool chest. Using a distressed and then confident tone, the author of “Under the Feet of Jesus,” Viramontes, details the progression of Estrella’s character from a confused and hostile girl to an empowered and knowledgeable young lady through the use of repetition, an epiphany in the form of a potent simile and diction. The epiphany that words hold immense power and the key to success in life completely transforms Estrella’s character as she learns to grow stronger from her troubled childhood experience. Viramontes emphasizes how much power we give words when we use them to support or tear down each other and how we should carefully direct that power of words to give a voice to an underprivileged individual whose experience and potential in life would otherwise remain hidden and unknown.

She is being raised in a world where women are expected to suffer silently and to be at the mercy of their men. However, men were not expected to return this slave-like behavior for the women. This setting of the novel allows the reader to see exactly how treacherous life can be. This suffering is so present in Estrella’s family’s lives, yet she somehow is able to bring the family along no matter how difficult the situation may be. She is still trapped in between two very different worlds: "She tried to remember which side she was on and which side of the wire mesh she was safe in" (59). Her mother may be taken over by a world of suffering, but she is not so beaten that she cannot pass some of her fighting

In Chapter 3 of Speaking of Jesus, Carl Medearis says that if we do not really know what the gospel is then we will find ourselves having to explain Christianity. Instead of reaching out to people and showing Jesus, we put all our time and effort into defending our religion. It is like we are on teams and we try to get the most people on our side so we have the biggest team. Medearis put it like this, “In a way, we’re drawing a line in the sand and telling people, “You’re on that side, and you need to believe what I’m telling you in order to cross the line. Once you cross it, you’re saved.” (p.45).This is the kind of mentality of salvation that was also referenced in the introduction to the book. Christians tend to treat salvation like a check

Fictional characters are persons that, when enlivened through careful, skillful writing and articulate literary elements, are incredible and relatable figures in any thoughtful novel. In Under The Feet of Jesus, the vibrant and distinct character of Estrella is thoroughly expressed as a young and passionate girl who struggles with her understanding of things that aren’t familiar— such “foreign alphabets” and Perfecto’s tools. Estrella is consumed in these emotions towards things she doesn’t understand, or know for sure, and expresses her moods without restraint. Helena María Viramontes, the author of Under The Feet of Jesus, uses selection of detail and figurative language to further develop this same iron-willed and impassioned character

Knowledge is a powerful thing. Additionally, knowledge can give a person an advantage in many aspects of life. Knowledge can help an individual get a job, it can help one get ahead in a class and it can help an individual understand what happens around them and why. Moreover, the wiser one is the more successful they can be. In the excerpt from the novel Under the Feet of Jesus, Helena Maria Viramontes describes how and why Estrella began to read and what provoked this change in her development. In order to convey Estrella’s development, Viramontes uses literary devices such as selection of detail, figurative language and tone to describe Estrella’s development from being puzzled and vitriolic to being educated and astute.

The novel “Under the Feet of Jesus” is written by Helena Maria Viramontes. The excerpt that was read mainly focus on the protagonist Estrella. When analyzing the excerpt, some of the information that the reader received was that Estrella loathe not knowing things and she continued to ask about the chest that everyone was harvesting for and no one ever answered her. Also that Estrella is in school and some of the teachers had a problem with her hygiene. The author used literacy devices so the novel could be understood better. The three literacy devices that were used were selection of details, figurative language, and tone.

Perfecto Flores was the first person to apprise Estrella of the purpose of the tools and how to build or fix things. Estrella finds the knowledge to be important and thrilling, “weighing the significance it awarded” Estrella connects the description of the tools to the letters in the alphabet - which is the true thing she struggles with - revealing that the tools serve as a purpose for her to learn. This ultimately makes her understand makes her “understand how essential it was to know these things.” The shift in tone of Estrella being drastically uninformed and angered by this to coming to terms and understanding helps the character mature.

Throughout the poem, since the very beginning the author uses selection of detail in order to describe Estrella’s character as she simply has no care in the world for trying to make an effort towards learning. As one begins to read, we are informed that Estrella “hated when things were kept from her.” Estrella does not like things being kept from her because she cannot and does not understand what these things are. Estrella has a growing hatred towards the thing which she could not understand, in this case it was a simple red tool chest which belonged to Perfecto. As Estrella begins to look through Perfecto’s tool box, she is quite perplexed by “the funny-shaped objects, seemed as confusing and foreign as the alphabet she could to decipher.” Estrella’s encounter with the tool box makes her very

In the fourth paragraph, the speaker tells about Estrella’s teachers and their lack of interest in teaching Estrella anything useful to her. One sentence reads, “They said good luck to her when the pisca was over, reserving the desks in the back of the classroom for the next batch of migrant children.” This sentence is important because it shows the situation that Estrella is in in a clearer light. Before that, the reader doesn’t know very much about the social or economic situation that Estrella is in, but this one sentence frames it perfectly. The talk of ‘batches’ of children makes them sound like expendable trinkets, and the fact that they are put in the back of the class shows how low of a priority their education is.

And how the workload has an effect on them for example, Estrella is carrying a basket full of grapes her back is compared to Bob wire and clawed at her anytime she made the movement (Viramontes, 1995, p. 53). She is so broken down she struggling not to cry, this is the reality that farm workers faced. Falicov states “ most Mexican American immigrants are poor, working hard for little pay at jobs with all prestige” (Falicov, 2005, p. 233). Petra and Perfecto are struggling to support children and an unpredictable environment. Which causes her to work so hard but at the end of the novel her legs are so weak she can’t even stand. This is another challenge that Estrella has to face, she relied on her mother and her stepfather realizing at the end that the only person she can rely on is her

In the book, The Age of Miracles by Karen Walker Thompson, the earth's rotation is effected and effects everybody and everything else on the planet. The main character, Julia is affected but not nearly as bad as her mother and her former piano teacher Sylvia.

Jesus of Nazareth, starring Robert Powell as Jesus, has a substantial similarity to the Passion narratives of the Gospel. Having read the accounts of the Passion in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, I could easily decipher the characters played by the actors when watching the movies. In Jesus of Nazareth, the audience sees the human nature of Jesus in a state of fright, confusion, and doubt. He is worried about His future, and He is also concerned that Judas will betray him with a kiss, and Peter will deny him three times. Compared to the narratives in the synoptic Gospels, this movie contains numerous, nearly-identical accounts of the Passion including the trial and His words on the cross.

Yancey starts out with the image of Jesus. When he was young he had envisioned Jesus to have angelic features such as, young, handsome, and a compassionate face. It wasn’t until he entered into a Christian college, that he was introduced to the real image of Jesus. I had an immediate connection with Yancey. I too had an image of Christ in my head, which consisted of Hollywood portrayals and those in classical paintings. It wasn’t till I engaged myself at a Christian college, that I have now received a new and more accurate picture of Christ. His book, The Jesus I Never Knew, questions the reader with the thought, “How many Christians today are in the same position, not fully understanding